House, Senate Ready Versions of War Bill

ALAN FRAM

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, March 30, 2003

Associated Press Writer

Top House and Senate lawmakers plan to give President Bush far less flexibility than he wants with the funds Congress will provide for the war with Iraq and other anti-terrorism expenses, lawmakers and aides said Monday.

The Republican-run House and Senate Appropriations committees planned to vote Tuesday on separate packages to begin paying for the conflict. Bush requested $74.7 billion last week and asked lawmakers to approve the funds before leaving for their two-week Easter break on April 11.

Both committees are expected to produce bills close to the president's price tag. The Senate was planning to add about $2 billion in taxpayers' dollars for the country's financially ailing airlines, and the House was considering including similar aid.

The two committees were also ready to clamp tighter congressional controls on the money than the president sought. Bush proposed giving the White House, Defense Department and other agencies wide berth in deciding precisely how to spend much of the money, a prerogative that members of both parties in Congress usually protect jealously.

"We'll give them the flexibility they need to fight this war," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla.

Of the $62.6 billion that Bush included in his request for the Pentagon, he proposed giving Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld broad discretion over $59.9 billion. For example, $53.4 billion could be used by Rumsfeld "for military operations in Iraq and the global war on terrorism."

Instead, aides said the House bill _ subject to last-minute changes _ would assign more than half that money to specific military accounts, based on information the White House has provided to the Appropriations Committee. The administration could control the rest of the money, but would have to notify lawmakers of its plans in advance and provide regular reports afterwards.

The Senate was also expected to provide much of the money for specific accounts, and give the administration more flexibility over the rest.

The administration also proposed creating several smaller funds it would control, such as one giving the president $150 million for handling "complex foreign crises." The House bill would not create that fund.

The House and Senate bills were also expected to change other details. For example, Young said he was working with New York lawmakers on a way their city, considered a high-risk terrorist target, could be ensured of getting funds, rather than leaving the decision to the administration's discretion.

Aides said congressional Democrats considered the limits on Bush's proposed powers to control the funds steps in the right direction. They were expected to propose spending more than the $3.5 billion Bush requested for the Department of Homeland Security.

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The Senate's bill on aid for airlines was expected to include funds for installation of reinforced cockpit doors, government-backed war risk insurance, an 18-month suspension of collecting the $2.50 per flight passenger fee, and for other security expenses.